Appeals court rules against health care law

CBS

Updated at 3:47 p.m. ET

A federal appeals court panel on Friday struck down the requirement in President Barack Obama's health care overhaul package that virtually all Americans must carry health insurance or face penalties.

The divided three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals struck down the so-called individual mandate, siding with 26 states that had sued to block the law. But the panel didn't go as far as a lower court that had invalidated the entire overhaul as unconstitutional.

"Whatever else this ruling does, it guarantees that the U.S. Supreme Court will take the case and break the dispute that now exists between at least two lower federal appeals courts," according to CBS Radio News legal analyst Andrew Cohen.

The states and other critics argued the law violates people's rights, while the Justice Department countered that the legislative branch was exercising a "quintessential" power.

The decision, penned by Chief Judge Joel Dubina and Circuit Judge Frank Hull, found that "the individual mandate contained in the Act exceeds Congress's enumerated commerce power."

CBSNews.com Special Report: Health Care and Medicare

"What Congress cannot do under the Commerce Clause is mandate that individuals enter into contracts with private insurance companies for the purchase of an expensive product from the time they are born until the time they die," the opinion said.

Circuit Judge Stanley Marcus disagreed in a dissent.

The Justice Department issued a statement saying the health care mandate is constitutional. "We strongly disagree with the court's decision," the statement said. "We are considering the next appropriate steps."

The 11th Circuit isn't the first appeals court to weigh in on the issue. The federal appeals court in Cincinnati upheld the government's new requirement that most Americans buy health insurance, and an appeals court in Richmond has heard similar legal constitutional challenges to the law.

Today's ruling is "a blow to the administration because it wanted to have the case come to the Supreme Court with a 4-0 record at the lower court level," Cohen said. "That won't happen, but it is no surprise to the White House, given the makeup of this appellate panel."

The Atlanta-based court is considered by many observers to be the most pivotal legal battleground yet because it reviewed a sweeping ruling by a Florida judge.

U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson's ruling not only struck down a requirement that nearly all Americans carry health insurance, but he also threw out other provisions ranging from Medicare discounts for some seniors to a change that allows adult children up to age 26 to remain on their parents' coverage.

The states urged the 11th Circuit to uphold Vinson's ruling, saying in a court filing that letting the law stand would set a troubling precedent that "would imperil individual liberty, render Congress's other enumerated powers superfluous, and allow Congress to usurp the general police power reserved to the states."

The Justice Department countered that Congress had the power to require most people to buy health insurance or face tax penalties because Congress has the authority to regulate interstate business. It said the legislative branch was exercising its "quintessential" rights when it adopted the new law.

During oral arguments in June, the three-judge panel repeatedly raised questions about the overhaul and expressed unease with the insurance requirement. Each of the three worried aloud if upholding the landmark law could open the door to Congress adopting other sweeping economic mandates.

The arguments unfolded in what's considered one of the nation's most conservative appeals courts. But the randomly selected panel represents different judicial perspectives. None of the three is considered either a stalwart conservative or an unfaltering liberal.

Dubina, an appointee of President George H.W. Bush, is not considered to be as reflexively conservative as some of his colleagues. But he's been under particular scrutiny because of his daughter's outspoken opposition to the health care overhaul. U.S. Rep. Martha Dubina Roby, a Montgomery, Ala., Republican elected in November, voted to repeal the health care law.

Marcus and Hull were both tapped by President Bill Clinton to join the court. But Marcus was also previously appointed by Republican President Ronald Reagan to serve on the Florida bench after several years as Miami's lead federal prosecutor. And Hull, a former county judge in Atlanta, is known for subjecting both sides of the counsel table to challenging questions.

[anebt]

The bill is a gargantuan mess that won't solve any of the problems we were promised it would solve:

1. Cost controls via government option or another means.
2. The Fed's continual purchasing of drugs at market prices.
3. The coverage of all Americans, not just half the uninsured.
4. Reduced red tape and administrative costs.
5. One single payer instead of state, federal, and individual payers.

[American1111]

So, America forgets we govern ourselves. It seems that Americans would like to give up their rights and to be governed by only one person. This comes from everyone wants to blame only one person for the situation America is in. We all have a voice, which is why we have representatives Congress (state and federal), senate (state and federal), Governors, mayors, and Councilmen, so on. If Americans forget this then we should give up our rights as a democracy and become a dictatorship. If you find that your representatives are making decisions that are not of the people and for the privileged few, then you need to vote them out. Representatives are just that, they are to be of the people in their area. Listen to the people and hear their concerns and needs. Carry the message of the people, to meet with other representatives. Then to deliver that message to other representatives and to hear the concerns and needs of others in order to come to an agreed fare solution to the needs that benefits all. This basic form of government has seemed to of been lost and forgotten. Replace by Corruption and greed. American's do not exercise their rights to participate in their own right to govern themselves or vote.
P.S. this message is not to support or condemn any one political group, more so, as reminder of who is really in charge. Also for better or worse who's to blame. You have an opinion, that is fine, but more so you have a right you should be exercising. Don't blame others for your own weakness. Stand up and take back your rights!

[piazon]

now where starting to head in the right direction with lots more to go

[inretrospect]

This is definitely the right direction and needs to go further. Not only is obamacare illegal and unconstitutional, so is obama himself. Proof: An article written Sunday, June 27, 2004 when he was about to enter the senate.

http://web.archive.org/web/20040627142700/eastandard.net/headlines/news26060403.htm

As the corruption continues and the stomach churns...

[tsigili]

This law was Sooooooooooooo bad, that Obama had to pay off some Dem congressmen, to get them to vote for it, and barely squeaked it through, using fraud and corruption, in the process.

It is no wonder it is still going to ultimately fail.

[idiotsheppard]

We are victim to a rogue government. We need to stop blaming the President and start pointing fingers at the house and the senate. The president asked them for help to write this insurance plan. They failed us. They continuely fail us everyday. They are more concerned with their own welfare than with ours. They give themselves raises when we are in financial despair. They care nothing about the people who elected them.

We do many things in this country that we are forced to do by big business and the government. Car insurance and seatbelts for a start. Did we forget about what this country was based on? In government, like business, there are too many chiefs and not enough indians. And the chiefs run around wondering why the work doesn't get done. Fricken Amazing!

I understnad the push for everyone to have insurance. If a person goes to the hospital and does not have insurance, who do you think pays for that in the long run. Everyone does, we pay more to go to the Dr and the hospitals so they can offset their losses on the non payors. We need universal health. Everyone should have access to health care. Should you punish a child because their parents can not afford health care? I should only hope that the american people can say no to that. If not, then you are the misguided, ignorant self centered fricken people I perceive you to be in this country!

[retm-w]

I seem to remember the republicans wanting to bow down to the insurance companies.

[myIife2live]

Now on to the total repeal of Obamacare.

Medical insurance should be a choice, not a command.

Laws dictate that we have liability vehicle insurance NOT to protect US, but to protect others from financial loss if and when we harm them. Comprehensive (pays for your damage( is NOT required except by lien holders on the vehicle.

Laws dictate that we pay taxes because it is an individual's duty to help finance their town, city, county, state, and federal services. These laws should NOT dictate that I pay taxes to provide individuals' necessities. Individual needs is called charity, and the Federal Government should not provide charity of any type.

[retm-w]

No insurance, no medical care, can't pay you get turned away.

[tsigili]

Finally......a decision based on the actual law, and not politics.

The next step is to totally invalidate the law, because without the mandate to buy, there is no way to make it financially workable. It isn't possible.

[kevjustice]

ha ha ha!! the big losers are the insurance companies!! only the mandate was called illegal but the rest of the bill was ruled valid! that means ins co's will have to cover people with pre-existing conditions and cannot charge more for them than an otherwise healthy person! a solution could be an open annual enrollment period. those that do not enroll are responsible for their medical bills(until the next annual enrolllment). vermont requires kids be covered for pre-existing conditions but has no mandates.

[myIife2live]

That is just so stupid. You are placing your own perception of the ruling instead of sticking to facts.

The ruling means that the government cannot force people to have insurance if they do not want it.

[retm-w]

mylife2live

Good then i want my insurance company to drop my rates by $1000.00 a year so I don't have to pay for people like you whomdon't want to pay for insurance. No emergency room , can't pay tough.

[dantom39]

Thank you shi-can obamacare gone in 2012 poof gone.

[Transatlantique]

If a person could afford insurance then they would have bought it already. Duh! If it is a choice between rent, food, utilities or overpriced-because-of-for-profit-quacks-doing-unnecessary-procedures-like-"circumcisions"-and-tonsillectomies insurance, guess which one I'm NOT going to buy. No one has the right to force anyone to buy anything they can't afford in the first place. What is so difficult about that? When America bans male genital mutilation, euphemistically known as "circumcision," then I might consider buying health insurance. But I refuse to support an institution that reimburses quacks who perform that fraudulent procedure. End of discussion. I'm seriously considering defection from this ridiculous country or suicide.